Chapter 153

Cheng Zhuo was very troubled.

Recently, his relationship with Qiao Li had gradually become closer, reaching the stage where they were just one layer away from breaking through the paper window.

On several occasions, he had almost confessed his feelings to Qiao Li.

But he shrank back at the critical moment, swallowing his words back into his stomach.

It wasn't that he lacked courage.

Rather, he felt that before doing so, he had to get one thing clear: whether Sheng Mumu really was his biological elder sister.

If she was, he could happily find his sister and have a clear conscience calling her "Sis".

If she wasn't, then in the future he could also happily call her "Sister-in-law" together with Qiao Li.

Although he hadn't even successfully confessed to Qiao Li yet, in his heart he had already rehearsed it many times: how he would address the entire Qi family.

All this time, he had wanted to reveal his suspicions to Sheng Mumu, but always hesitated, afraid of being too abrupt, and afraid that the result would not be what he imagined.

He could only carefully test the waters, hoping to find more small pieces of evidence to prove that "Sheng Mumu is his sister".

And now, because of his feelings, it had finally become the last push he needed to recognize their kinship.

He could not wait any longer.

On the third day after Sheng Mumu returned to the capital city,

Cheng Zhuo knocked on the door of her office during his lunch break.

"Come in."

Hearing the response from inside, Cheng Zhuo took a deep breath and pushed open the door, getting straight to the point as he asked:

"Sis, are you free to have dinner together tonight? I have something very, very important I want to tell you."

Sheng Mumu was in the middle of signing some documents. Upon hearing this, she stopped her pen and raised her eyes to look over, "Something very, very important?"

Cheng Zhuo nodded heavily, "Mm-hmm!"

Sheng Mumu blinked and asked, "That important, why don't you just tell me now?"

Sheng Mumu's curiosity was piqued, she couldn't wait until dinner, she wanted to know right away.

Cheng Zhuo hesitated for a few seconds, "Uh...well..."

Seeing his hesitation, Sheng Mumu suddenly lit up.

Sheng Mumu: "!!!"

Oh my, could this kid want to confess about him and Li Li?

No, I can't wait.

I want to hear this couple's love story right now, what should I do? In the blink of an eye, Sheng Mumu took big steps to stand behind Cheng Zhuo.

Before Cheng Zhuo could react, she had already pushed him into the office and pressed down on his shoulders to make him sit on the reception couch.

Cheng Zhuo was confused: "?"

Sheng Mumu seemed oblivious as she busied herself.

First she called the intercom to have someone bring in a pot of tea.

Then she took out a bag of potato chips and a bag of melon seeds from the small fridge in her office.

She ripped open the packages and placed them on the coffee table.

With all the preparations to hear the gossip done, she finally sat down opposite Cheng Zhuo.

She blinked her eyes rapidly twice, revealing an expectant grin, and said:

"What's this important thing, tell me all about it."

Her actions were so smooth, her preparations so thorough, it was just like those housewives in the villa district during their gossip tea time.

Cheng Zhuo was clearly shocked by her streamlined operation.

The words he had planned to say at dinner now had to be brought out prematurely.

Facing Sheng Mumu's expectant gaze, Cheng Zhuo couldn't help but stumble over his words:

"...Sis, I might be..."

Sheng Mumu encouraged him with her eyes, "Mm-hmm, you might what?" Say it, say it!

Tell me all about your love affair.

Cheng Zhuo's lips pressed into a straight line as he clenched his fists and said:

"Sis, I might be your long lost biological younger brother."

"???" Sheng Mumu, "Huh???"

Now that the words were out, Cheng Zhuo figured he might as well go all the way.

Ignoring Sheng Mumu's dumbfounded expression, he clutched his fists and spilled out the words he had kept pent up for so long.

"Sis, I told you before that I have an older sister who is the same age as you and whose name also contains the character 'Mu'."

"Actually, I didn't say it outright several times, but when I was little my sister...got separated from our family."

Sheng Mumu was still trying to shake off her suspicion that Cheng Zhuo's brain was malfunctioning, and looked at him with a complicated expression. Under her doubtful gaze, Cheng Zhuo continued:

"The first time I saw your photo was a photo taken by the media of you and brother-in-law attending a banquet."

"I was stunned at that time. You look so, so similar to what my mother looked like when she was young, even your dimples are exactly the same."

"From the media coverage, I learned your name and secretly followed your news, knowing that you opened a flower shop, so I came to apply for a job..."

"Wait a minute—" Sheng Mumu interrupted him, "Let me get this straight."

"You're saying, just because I'm the same age as your lost sister, and we both have dimples, plus our names both contain the character 'Mu', so I must be your sister?"

"Mm-hmm." Cheng Zhuo's gaze was frank and ardent as he nodded, "Don't you think so many similarities can adequately explain the situation?"

"This is..." Sheng Mumu still felt it was a bit hasty and didn't answer Cheng Zhuo's words.

Her mind was chaotic.

She had expected to hear gossip, but it had abruptly turned into kinship recognition.

Her mindset hadn't switched over yet. "It's fine if you think my speculation is too preposterous, there is other corroborating evidence." Cheng Zhuo said.

Sheng Mumu looked at him seriously, "What evidence?"

Cheng Zhuo: "Last time when your scumbag brother smashed up the flower shop, when I saw what he looked like, he didn't resemble you at all. Logically speaking, if you were really his sister, there's no reason you two wouldn't look anything alike, right?"

"Also, I asked you that day whether you grew up in the capital city since you were little, and you said no. What a coincidence, before our family immigrated, we had always lived in a small southern town."

Sheng Mumu was stunned for a moment.

She recalled that when the flower shop was smashed, she did indeed chat with Cheng Zhuo for a few sentences.

She also thought back to the original owner's experience, living in a small southern town when she was little with her parents and Sheng Lei.

Thinking of this, Sheng Mumu's expression gradually became more serious.

In the original book, there were only a few cursory descriptions about the original owner, with no mention of any hidden family background.

But combined with the things Sheng Lei had said and done to her, it really didn't seem like how one would treat a biological younger sister.

Sheng Mumu pursed her lips, looking straight at Cheng Zhuo.

She had been persuaded by Cheng Zhuo's speculation. She pursed her lips and slowly said:

"Then...what now? Go get tested?"

According to typical conventions in novels and TV dramas, at this point they should proceed to DNA testing.

Hearing this, the suspense that had been hanging over Cheng Zhuo's heart finally relaxed.

There was irrepressible joy on his face as he nodded heavily, "Mm-hmm! Let's test!"

After he spoke, Cheng Zhuo smiled and confessed candidly:

"Sis, I'll be honest, I did think about secretly pulling some of your hair before."

Sheng Mumu's eyebrows suddenly furrowed.

Cheng Zhuo didn't see her expression and continued confessing:

"But after I looked it up online, to do kinship testing, you need at least fifteen hairs with the follicle. If I really pulled them, it would surely be quite painful."

Sheng Mumu was shocked and subconsciously covered her head.

Just listening to Cheng Zhuo's description made her scalp tingle painfully in imagination.

As everyone knows, a person has three thousand strands of worry.

But as one grows older, many people will gradually decrease to one thousand five...

One thousand...

Then five hundred...

She didn't dare think any further, and glared at Cheng Zhuo, slowly saying:

"Cheng Zhuo, congratulations."

Cheng Zhuo looked puzzled, "Congratulations to me?"

Sheng Mumu: "Congratulations on narrowly escaping disaster. If you had really secretly pulled fifteen of my hairs when I wasn't paying attention, even if we did recognize each other as kin, our relationship would be over."

Cheng Zhuo: "......"

Sheng Mumu: "You might even suffer a vicious beating."

Cheng Zhuo: "............"